ST PAUL, MN - JUNE 24: 14th overall pick Jamieson Oleksiak by the Dallas Stars poses for a portrait during day one of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Xcel Energy Center on June 24, 2011 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Defenseman Aaron Rome is still recovering from hip surgery and will not be available for the season opener on Oct. 3.

Defenseman Trevor Daley is bothered by a shoulder/neck injury and might not be 100 percent by then.

And the Stars are coming off a preseason game in which they yielded 36 shots on goal to St. Louis.

Did we mention that the blue line has been a concern for this team for the last four years or so?

If you ask Stars fans, the biggest question mark coming into this season is that new general manager Jim Nill has only patched up the defense corps. Yes, free-agent acquisition Sergei Gonchar still is a very good defenseman at age 39, and he might be capable of playing 24 minutes a night, but otherwise the same group returns that struggled last season.

At the core of the corps is the trio of Daley, Alex Goligoski and Stephane Robidas — all fine players, but each listed at 6-0 or shorter. What’s more, each is seen as a skilled puck mover more than a physical force. That means the Stars come at teams with a lot of the same type of players. It’s why they had no problem trading youngsters Philip Larsen and Joe Morrow in the off-season.

So how do things change? Well, the addition of Brenden Dillon last season was a great start. The 22-year-old is listed at 6-4, 228, and was a solid force in his rookie season. Dillon averaged the fourth-most minutes on the Stars at 21:22 and finished second to Robidas in hits (133) and blocked shots (74).

In addition, Gonchar is listed at 6-2, 206, and 6-7 Jamie Oleksiak is knocking on the door. Mix in Patrik Nemeth (6-3, 201) and you see some more physical options back there.

The other interesting twist is that Nill added more than just Gonchar in the off-season. Assistant coach James Patrick has seven years of NHL experience, and head coach Lindy Ruff has 20 years behind the bench. Ruff was coach of the defense for Florida when they went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996 and also coached the Team Canada defense for the 2010 Olympic gold medalist. He returns in that same capacity for Team Canada in 2014.

“I definitely think the coaches can make a big difference,” Nill said. “I think there is an art to teaching and to putting players in position to succeed, and these coaches all bring something unique that they have learned over the years. It’s an experienced group.”

The defense corps has a great deal of pride. Robidas, Goligoski and Daley are all respected individuals. However, their group hasn’t been able to get things done in recent years.

“I definitely believe in us, and I see pride in our group,” Robidas said. “It doesn’t matter what people outside the locker room think; we know what happened and we’re moving forward. We’ve got Sergei Gonchar, our young guys are getting better, I think we will be improved. The way I look at it is the team is going to be better, I really believe that, and so everyone on the team will be better.”

That said, the improvement is a process, and there already have been ups and downs. Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss had a veteran lineup that was outshot 36-24 by St. Louis. In addition, the Stars took three key penalties in the third period and overtime, two by defensemen.

“We need guys to play well together, and I don’t know if we have those pairs yet,” said Ruff, who added that it’s challenging to have just one right-handed defenseman in Robidas. “A lot of times it’s the strength of two guys together rather than just the individual talent.”

Nill believes all of the parts are there to make a good whole, even if a few players are battling injuries or might not yet be ready to step up and help right now.

“We’ve done a lot of work and we feel we’re moving forward,” he said. “It is a culture change, and it is going to take time, but you work hard and things do change. And that’s for the whole team, and not just the defensemen.”

It’s just that the defensemen are under a much more intense microscope.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.